I am on the eve of a year being a mayor, which is cause for reflection and while I want to look back and look forward, I am also looking up and down. To the skies always to keep humble in this vast and extraordinary infinite universe and to beneath to be enchanted by all the life that connects and reconnects and brings forth more life and beauty for us to see. Stairs are a great way to do both. I have been climbing a few lately and there are more on the horizon both metaphorically and in reality.
The mycelium of my life, all that I have learnt, heard, see, played with, seems to being put to good use in this role. It is a kind of harvest, gathering up the threads of my past lives and deploying them, finding new ways in which fragments of one skill and a memory, or an idea or a person can be fused to set up another pathway to bring clarity and potential. The role opens up possibilities and is deeply located in place. I have always loved ‘match making’, connecting people to other people, networks and ideas fed into systems, so to be able to do this at scale and to drive opportunities is an honour.
Finding threads that need pulling, and others that might need sewing back, and some that perhaps need to be trimmed and closed off, is all part of the work too. It goes beyond being a network junkie. I have always held the view that change is possible only at the speed of trust and so rebuilding trust has been central to my leadership style. Building trust in communities and cities only happens by involving citizens and the systems they interact with. This means understanding their needs, preferences, expectations, asking for input not just feedback and enlisting them into decision-making, shaping and holding each other accountable.
Trust building happens through being transparent, helping citizens understand and know how their data, their views and experiences are valued, used and included. The sheer volume of ambient data that is collected and used in decision making is quite confronting now that machine learning is embedded in so much we touch, see and do. Quality of life, efficiency and sustainability are excellent outcomes of applying data to city- scale decision-making, but nothing makes up for the human API who can put people together and bring something new from that combination.
I am sure that is why I have always identified more in the midwifery than the palliative care space as a community builder. I have done a fair bit of palliation though too – closing down organisations, saying goodbye to systems that were failing or had their days numbered, helping groups take their last breaths and celebrating their achievements before scattering their ashes into the wind. I take note in this type of activity that I am making humus, fodder for new things to grow. My happy place though is in bringing forth what is emerging and inevitably that involves helping some things decay.
As this first year comes to an end, I am getting into the groove and am so grateful for this opportunity to serve in this way. There is a lot to reflect on and plenty of material for a Netflix series, and as season one comes to a close, I am going to take a break to refresh and get ready for the next year. As usual I am embarking on my break as a pilgrim, coming as I am, sore knee and all, to take a walk in a foreign land, to take the signs along the way to guide me, hold me and remind me with no clear knowledge of what is ahead and the path I am walking is already waiting for me to arrive.
Letters to 